


Lemon Balm

by ghostlyfraggle



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, PTSD Shadow, Rated for Swears, Tea, i threw a bunch of headcanons into this, like a lot, platonic, there's not enough platonic stuff of these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-29 23:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8509468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostlyfraggle/pseuds/ghostlyfraggle
Summary: Sometimes he has nightmares, and on those nights, Rouge will make tea and talk with him until he feels okay again.





	

Though he was completely over getting revenge on humanity, PTSD wasn't exactly something that could easily be escaped from. Blonde hair and blue eyes still made her face fill up his vision, he felt uneasy around G.U.N. soldiers despite the fact that he worked with them, and he had nightmares at least twice a week. But Rouge was always there.

 

Somehow, she understood. He didn't know what she'd been up to before they met; she didn't talk about her past a whole lot. But she sympathized about feeling uneasy around soldiers, and she forcefully grabbed his arm and kept him moving when his eyes froze on some random girl out in public, and she'd make tea and sit with him and just talk for as long as he needed when he woke up in a panic from nightmares. The tea always tasted better when she made it than if Shadow tried to make it himself, and she kept her voice soft and her sarcastic comments to herself, aware that her usual critical demeanor wouldn't help.

 

He slept on the couch of her apartment most nights. He didn't have a place to himself and didn't feel the need to; he went where he wanted, crashed wherever. When he woke up from nightmares it was always in a cold sweat, the ratty quilt Rouge had dug out of her closet for him to sleep with tossed on the floor. His eyes wide, he held up his hand in front of him to see if it was shaking. He presumed it was, but his eyes were too full of sleepy gunk to properly tell.

 

They had a system. He'd wake up from a nightmare, calm down enough to get up and knock on Rouge's door, and he'd ask if she could make tea. It was a kind of code.

 

He took deep breaths, counting the seconds as he did so. He blinked the sleep from his ruby eyes and let his heart rate slow to a manageable tempo. He picked up the quilt from the floor and set it beside him on the couch before traversing the pink and purple apartment to the hall, where Rouge's room resided.

 

He rocked on his heels, breathing through his mouth. And then he knocked.

 

She didn't reply right away. He had to knock again, louder than before. She swore in muffled French and Shadow could hear her feet hit the floor and footsteps head towards the door before she opened it.

 

She was without makeup or styled hair; messy and rough and natural. She wore a periwinkle-colored tank top that was three sizes too small for her chest and a pair of plaid pajama pants. Anyone else probably would have found it attractive; but Shadow couldn't bring himself to think about people that way. He wasn't... _ wired  _ to think romantically about anyone.

 

"Could you make some tea?" He asked lowly. Rouge smiled despite her tired eyes.

 

"Of course."

 

He followed her to the kitchen, where she secured two cat-faced mugs and filled a kettle with water. Shadow sat at the kitchen table, fidgeting with his fingers as she worked.

 

"What kind do you want?" She asked suddenly.

 

"Lemon balm, please," Shadow requested. She nodded, and poured the hot water into the mugs; placing a lemon balm tea bag in one cup and a passionflower bag in the other. She kept the passionflower one to herself and slid the lemon balm mug across the table, towards Shadow.

 

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, staring into her tea as though it was something interesting.

 

"Can't remember it," Shadow said simply. "Just some vague faces and sounds. Was probably about the day she died. Can't be sure, though."

 

"I get dreams like that, sometimes," she replied, tilting her mug up to her mouth and taking a tiny sip. "You gonna be okay to go to work, or do you want me to vouch for you being sick?"

 

"They'll never believe your lying ass," Shadow said through a chuckle. "I can go. It's fine."

 

"You're sure?"

 

"I'm sure."

 

The apartment was plunged into a warm silence, the only noise stemming from the muffled music the residents above Rouge's place were playing. It wasn't annoying music, either; it was nice, calm music, perfect for this time of night.

 

Shadow sipped his tea carefully, letting the warmth spread through his body and slow everything down for the moment it was there. "Thanks, Rouge."

 

"No problem,  _ mon amie _ ," Rouge replied. "I may not be able to relate, but I can understand well enough."

 

They finished their tea in silence. Rouge finished hers when Shadow was only halfway done with his, but she stayed with him anyway, tapping her fingers on the wood of the table in a calming rhythm similar to a heartbeat.

 

And perhaps Shadow would never be able to overcome the nightmares and the flashbacks and the anxiety; but at least he had her to help him through it.


End file.
